Young Gun: Sean Kennedy – Edinburgh scrum-half
The 21-year-old former Glasgow Warriors development player made the decision to put down his roots last summer after jet-setting on the Sevens circuit with Scotland, securing a move to Edinburgh for the new season.
But an injury crisis at the Warriors saw Kennedy go straight back to Glasgow on loan at the start of the season, making seven appearances for Gregor Townsend‘s resurgent side.
His return to Edinburgh in March coincided with their upturn in fortunes under Stevie Scott and his first game back was against Ulster with Kennedy helping to end an 11-match losing streak for the Gunners.
As fate would have it, his last match in a Warriors shirt was also against the current PRO12 leaders and Kennedy admits he explained to his teammates he had the Midas touch.
“When I got back to Edinburgh I told everyone I had a 100 per cent record against Ulster to keep up and that I knew the key to beating them,” said Kennedy.
“And that’s how it turned out! The great thing for me coming back to Edinburgh has been that I’ve missed out on the doom and gloom that can’t help but creep in when you’re on a losing streak.
“There was a bit of banter from both teams. At my last training session at Glasgow they made me wear an Edinburgh shirt.
“And back at Edinburgh, if I ever drop the ball or make a mistake in training, everyone is like ‘oh is that how they do it at Glasgow?’ but it’s all good banter and I give as good as I get.
“I was at Glasgow who have been full of confidence and doing well all season and then I came back to a club buoyed by a new manager with new ideas.
“Under Stevie we’ve been determined to keep things simple and go back to basics and that has been working, now we’re just trying to keep things going until the end of the season and I’m looking to play as much as possible.”
While he played a key role for the Gunners against Ulster, Kennedy has had to bide his time in their subsequent two matches, playing a watching brief from the replacements bench – not that he’s too bothered.
With the Warriors Kennedy was serving his apprenticeship with Fijian trickster Niko Matawalu while at Edinburgh it is Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw, who has now seemingly made his switch from fly-half to scrum-half permanent.
The two have contrasting styles and Kennedy is convinced that will only be to his benefit.
“Greig is such an impressive player whether it’s from stand-off or scrum-half and then you can add his goalkicking to that as well,” added Kennedy.
“He was one of the best performers in the Six Nations and he’s always delivers. That’s what you strive towards, performing every single week.
“And Niko is just an incredible player, he does things with the ball that you can only dream of.”
Kennedy’s early season form did not go unnoticed at international level either and as well as a call-up to Scotland’s Six Nations training squad, he also featured in Scotland A’s victory over England Saxons – a first ever in enemy territory.
“The experience was incredible – to get out there for Scotland A and make history is something that I will cherish for a long time.”
